Friday, April 7, 2017

Every year at our Spring Teacher Blogger Retreat, after a day filled with connecting with other educators and filling our hearts and minds with the most inspiring professional development imaginable, we inject some pure fun into our retreat weekend in the form of a "Saturday Night Social Event!"

This year, our Saturday Night Social Event was all about rolling out the red carpet for the amazing educators in attendance...and making them feel like the celebrities that they are!

As teachers ourselves, the planning committee knows how many hours of over-time teachers spend doing all that they can to make each day's lessons special. We know how much of your own money you spend equipping your classroom with everything it needs to make learning come alive.

And to us... Well, that makes you a VIP worthy of celebrating!

Our goal was to provide those attending the full red carpet experience...and the help of a few amazing sponsors, we made it happen!

The theme for our evening event wasn't a hard one to come up with! We knew right away that the evening had to fit hand-in-hand with the objective of our retreat...spoiling (and thanking) educators who work so hard in the trenches everyday. However, figuring out how to pull off a true red-carpet event was going to take some expertise and major support!

Without hesitation, ESGI stepped up with excitement to team with us to bring our dream to life!

And we (the planning committee) weren't surprised a bit! ESGI is ever-present, year-round, supporting teachers as they seek to be the best they can be! They have been long-standing, loyal supporters of our annual teacher-blogger events, and their true love for educators shows in everything they do!

I mean, after all.... If it wasn't for ESGI helping the entire planning team with assessments and report cards, saving us EACH over 400 hours a year (That's real people! Not an exaggeration!)... the planners would never have time to plan the Spring Teacher Blogger Event! LOL

Teachers...once you use ESGI, you will NEVER go back! It's a game-changer, my friends!

So.. as quick as a wink, with the help of ESGI, we built a "red carpet dream team" consisting of Chris Pombanyo (LIVE in the Classroom), Chase Mayo (professional videographer) and Kristen Black Sloan (ESGI) to work with us to make the red carpet event happen!

And.... WA-LA! We made it happen!

Check out this crowd awaiting the celebrity LIVE stream!

Take a peek of some of the incredible LIVE stream clips created by Chris, Chase, Kristen and their gifted team....

A.MAZ.ING....right?!!!

And that was just a peek at the red carpet activities!

There was SO much more fun to be had!

Take a peek at how attendees were welcomed to the event....in TRUE red carpet fashion!

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Well, maybe not, but that doesn't mean we can't pretend like that's the reason for a night of fun. That's exactly what we did in French Lick a couple weeks ago.

Our team of organizers know that teachers are truly rock stars and we wanted them to be treated like the red carpet stars they are. We couldn't do this alone! Oriental Trading made it possible for us to create a red carpet affair we won't soon forget.

We were greeted by the paparazzi trying to get our picture...getting sneezed on and kicked under the guided reading table on a daily basis!

This amazing Hollywood arch stood at the entrance to the ballroom!

Inside the ballroom, the decor really made everyone feel like they were at a red-carpet affair.

Jenny is "red-carpet" gorgeous!

It felt like we were really in Hollywood!

A few photo booths were set up so we could get memorable pictures throughout the night!

Of course, Oriental Trading sent everyone home with their very own Oscar! Loved it!

This night would not been magical if it weren't for Oriental Trading!! They were an amazing sponsor for our event!!

*Disclaimer: I was sent products of my choice in exchange for writing this post, but all opinions expressed are 100% my own!